App distribution is broken in today’s landscape. User acquisition (UA) and ad targeting have become increasingly difficult, due to rising costs, stricter privacy regulations, and increasingly fragmented audiences. Developers are struggling to find new, more cost-effective ways to reach and engage users. App stores also take a 30% cut of all in-app purchases. While Epic’s victory over Apple paved the way for developers to enable downloads from third party sources, adoption for non-official app stores remains low.
According to data by Appfigures published on Techcrunch, global consumer spending in mobile apps and games reached $127 billion across the App Store and Google Play in 2024, up 15.7% from 2023, but all the increase came from the App Store, which Google Play spend declined. In addition, global app downloads were down by 2.3%, compared with 2023, reaching nearly 110 billion.
Enter the Alternative Gaming Distribution Centres
Telegram Mini Apps are emerging as a potential solution for game developers. These are lightweight, web-based apps that run directly inside Telegram, a messaging app with over 800 million active users. While primarily used for crypto/web3 gaming today, Mini Apps offer instant user engagement without downloads, transforming Telegram from a simple messaging app to a platform for discovery, interaction, and monetisation. The Mini Apps, are integrated with the TON blockchain.
This integration, along with features like in-app payments, has attracted millions of users to apps like Notcoin, which quickly gained 40 million users and Hamster Kombat, which has around 300 million players or Israeli startup GOAT Gaming, which offers real money skill games. Ton Blockchain is fast, has cheaper transaction fees than the alternatives and it’s scalable. Telegram also recently launched in-app payment tools, like Telegram Stars, which could further incentivise the development of Mini Apps.
Telegram Mini Apps offer several potential benefits for game developers:
- Games Inside Chats: Players could join tournaments or share achievements in real-time with friends, all within their Telegram chats or groups.
- Built-In Virality: Telegram’s built-in communities provide organic growth opportunities for multiplayer games and can be leveraged for fan engagement.
- Frictionless Onboarding: Mini Apps don’t require app store approvals or downloads, allowing for instant play.
- Some successful Mini Apps include shopping apps, productivity tools, and multiplayer quiz games. Gaming has the potential to be one of the most successful sectors in this space.
Telegram might be leading the charge, but it’s only the beginning. If Mini Apps arrive on platforms like Twitter or WhatsApp, Mini Apps could represent the next big channel for growth.
Discord goes from social layer to Gaming Destination
Discord actually started as a gaming studio in 2012 by its co-founder and CEO Jason Citron. Hammer & Chisel aimed to create multiplayer online battle arena games, but it couldn’t compete with the incumbents League of Legends and Dota 2, so in 2015, Citron decided to pivot to gaming communications. The team wanted a better way for players to hang out before, during and after playing games, and the explosion of multiplayer games as well as the pandemic contributed to its quick growth. Today, Discord has more than 200 million monthly users who spend 1.5 billion hours every month playing games while communicating on the platform.
Fast forward to 2024 and Discord has gone back to its gaming roots. I wrote on VC Cafe about the entrance of Discord into the gaming space back in March 2024, since Jason Citron announced the ‘new chapter for Discord‘ back in May 2024, it’s been accelerating quickly. Discord Gaming offers a platform that combines both the gaming and the social interaction in one place, where users are also able to stream their social gaming experience. Early success stories include Death by AI which received 700,000 in a day without spending a dollar on distribution, as well as Chef Showdown, which came to Discord after finding success on Snap and was played by 14 million users.
Over the next decade, we believe another billion people will be playing multiplayer games and enjoying the kinds of deep, rich experiences that we all have come to love. It’ll be more important than ever for us to provide a fast, seamless and powerful service to talk with your friends before, during, and after playing those games, no matter what device you play on.
Jason Citron, Discord’s CEO
Several factors contribute to Discord’s attractiveness as a distribution channel:
- Massive and Targeted User Base: 90% of Discord’s over 200 million monthly active users, are gamers aged teens to twenties, representing a readily available and highly engaged audience.
- Inherent Social Nature: Discord’s foundation as a social platform allows developers to seamlessly integrate social features into their games, fostering interaction and community building, which have been proven successful in platforms like Facebook and Roblox.
- Developer-Friendly Ecosystem: Discord’s familiarity among developers and its active support for game creation through initiatives like the Embedded App SDK and community channels create a welcoming environment for developers
- HTML5 Shared Experiences (Activities): This feature allows for seamless integration of web-based games directly within Discord servers, enhancing the user experience and making it easier for developers to distribute their games
That being said, the Discord Activities App Store is still in its infancy and challenges remain about monetisation and in-app purchases, limited play testing and rollout features as well as engagement hurdles when it comes to player notifications.
What’s next for games and consumer app distribution
The evolution of gaming distribution through platforms like Telegram Mini Apps and Discord’s Activities App Store is just beginning. These channels provide exciting alternatives for game developers to reach and engage users, bypassing traditional app store constraints while leveraging the power of social platforms. However, challenges around adoption, monetisation, and scale remain.
At Remagine Ventures, we believe in the transformative power of gaming and the potential of these emerging distribution channels to shape the future of the industry. We’re actively investing in the future of gaming and looking for visionary founders building innovative solutions in this space. If you’re working on the next breakthrough in gaming distribution, community-driven experiences, or cutting-edge gaming tech, we’d love to connect.
I'm a former general partner at google ventures, head of Google for Entrepreneurs in Europe and founding head of Campus London, Google's first physical hub for startups.
I'm also the founder of Techbikers, a non-profit bringing together the startup ecosystem on cycling challenges in support of Room to Read. Since inception in 2012 we've built 11 schools and 50 libraries in the developing world.
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